


Mobster's Paradise: A Bryzzo Crossover

by 6YearsABrave



Category: Baseball RPF, Sports RPF, TV Commercials, The Simpsons
Genre: 2016, Chicago Cubs, Crossover, Debt, M/M, Meet the Hoopers Commercial, mob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 00:57:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7412143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6YearsABrave/pseuds/6YearsABrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anthony Rizzo owes a ton of money to the mob. However, when he doesn't think Fat Tony is serious about him paying it back immediately, his fiancee, Kris Bryant, decides to take matters into his own hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mobster's Paradise: A Bryzzo Crossover

**Author's Note:**

> Courtesy of my imagination.

The first snowflakes of winter started to drift toward the ground in Chicago, Illinois, where the Major League Baseball season had just finished. The Chicago Cubs were headed to their various homes, including Anthony Rizzo, the all-star first baseman, and the hot-hitting third baseman, Kris Bryant. 

Kris closed the door to their enormous house behind him, dropping a bag to the floor. “Ugh,” he sighed, leaning against the wall. “That was a long season.”

Anthony smiled wearily. He had put his bag on the couch next to him, rummaging through it while Kris blew off steam. He glanced over at his boyfriend, a tender look on his gentle face. 

Kris cocked his head to the side with a curious smile. “Everything alright?”

“Oh yeah,” Anthony replied. He held something in his hand that Kris couldn’t see. 

He came closer. “Kris,” he started in a low voice, “there’s something I’ve been waiting the whole year to ask you. I figured…now would be the best time.”

Kris’ mouth dropped open. He couldn’t speak all of a sudden as Anthony got down to one knee.

“Will you marry me?” He opened a ring box to reveal a shiny, new gold wedding band.

“Aaaah!” Kris cried in surprise. He shook his head with pure delight. “Y-yes!”

Kris jumped down to his knees in front of Anthony and threw his arms around his neck, panting and laughing happily. He barely had the wherewithal to let Anthony put the ring on his finger. 

Anthony looked back at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too!” Kris buried his face in Anthony’s shoulder.

 

A couple of weeks later there was a furtive knock on Anthony’s and Kris’ door. Their housekeeper answered. “Anthony!” She called out not five seconds after opening the door. “Anthony! It’s for you! Come quick!”

Anthony came quickly, with Kris at his heels. He recognized the urgency and fear in her voice. 

He sucked in his breath in surprise when he got to the door, seeing a face he always feared seeing. 

“Fat Tony,” he said quietly. He nudged his way to the front of the doorway. “Wh-what brings you here this fine day?”

“Hello, Anthony,” Fat Tony D’Amico said smoothly in his Italian drawl. “How are things at the old homestead? You did well this year.” Legs and Louie, his two most trusted goons, stood side by side right behind him. 

“Thank you,” he nodded, his voice breaking up a little. “It’s great here – I’m engaged, actually.”

“Engaged?” Fat Tony repeated. 

“Hi, I’m Kris – Kris Bryant,” Kris said, cutting in from next to Anthony. 

“Oh,” Fat Tony said, seeing their new rings. “You’re engaged to your teammate. How romantic that you play for the same team!” 

“It’s been a dream come true. I don’t believe we’ve met,” Kris added, shooting Anthony a puzzled look after noting their upscale suits and ties.

“Tony D’Amico,” Fat Tony introduced himself, coming forward and kissing Kris by the cheek. “And Legs and Louie,” he motioned to the two behind him. 

“Let me get in on some of that,” Louie said, coming up to kiss Kris eagerly.

“That won’t be necessary,” Fat Tony put up a hand. “Our business today is not with you, it is with your fiancée.”

“Again, what gives us the pleasure today, Fat Tony?” Anthony asked, getting more and more nervous as the conversation continued.

Fat Tony smiled, the smile of a mob boss about to get paid. “Well? It’s been some time, Mr. Rizzo, and you haven’t gotten back to me on that little old debt you owe. You do remember, surely?”

Anthony’s mouth slowly dropped open. “Oh,” he said quietly.

Fat Tony nodded. “I knew you’d remember,” he said. “It’s coming on a year, you know. Not that I’ve been counting.” Legs and Louie averted their eyes.

“I am going to get it back to you, you know that,” Anthony said quickly after a moment of thought. 

Fat Tony glanced to Kris, then back. “Yes,” he said. “I trust you will. In the next three days.”

Anthony did a double take. “Three days?” he repeated. He shook his head. “F-Fat Tony, I can’t do that. We’re planning our wedding – in Las Vegas!”

“Vegas, hmm?” Fat Tony asked. “Sounds nice and naughty. I hope it’s a blast. But it’s going to have to be second priority as of right now.”

“We’ve already got the date planned, and everything’s booked, we can’t-”

“Three days, Anthony,” Fat Tony interrupted smoothly. For some reason, his voice never sounded angry, even though he threatened people all the time. “One, two, three.” He had turned around to leave.

“Now wait just a minute,” Kris put in. “You can’t just postpone the debt for a year and then expect it all at once out of the blue!”

Fat Tony raised one eyebrow, turning back. “Oh, can’t I?” He asked Kris. He came back, a step closer. 

Anthony put a hand across Kris’ chest. “Kris, stay out of this. This is my deal.”

“No!” Kris said defiantly. “You’re my fiancée now. You’re going to be my husband soon. If you’re doing deals with the mob, I’m the first person who should know about it.”

“I’m afraid your fiancée is correct,” Fat Tony said to Kris. “There is nothing to be afraid of or secret about this deal. He owes me a great sum of money. It’s that simple. Do you not agree, Anthony?”

“Yes,” Anthony said in a defeated tone. 

“See?” Fat Tony said. “Now, he has agreed to pay it back so we can move on. I suggest you let him, else you pay the price instead.” He glanced back to Legs and Louie, indicating it was time to leave.

“But…but…” Kris had no idea what to say as the mobsters walked back to their limo. “Anthony!” He grabbed Anthony’s shoulder, but it felt numb.

“Kris,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“How much money do you owe him?”

There was a pause. Then, “Twenty million.”

Kris shook his head in disbelief. _“Twenty million?” ___

“Yes.”

“How – wh – _why? _”__

“It’s a long story,” he said. “He helped my mother out, and I couldn’t afford it at the time. I’ve been putting this off and putting it off until I kind of forgot about it.” He hung his head. “I’m so sorry I never told you. I just had my mind on other things.”

“How will we pay for this wedding now?”

“I don’t know.”

“No,” Kris shook his head. “No, he can’t do this, he can’t just-”

“He can and he is,” Anthony interrupted. “Do you know what mob bosses can do? What kind of stuff they can get away with?” Kris shook his head. “My family has had ties to them for years, and I’m not proud of it, but when the time comes, sometimes, when things get hairy, you don’t have a choice.” He ran a frustrated hand over his head. “Great,” he muttered, going off to the kitchen.

Kris watched him go, unconvinced.

 

Two more days passed and Anthony made no moves to head to the Legitimate Businessman’s Social Club, where Fat Tony and his goons made their base. Kris mentioned it to him both evenings but Anthony shrugged him off, preferring to think about other, ‘more pressing’ things (although Kris was pretty sure his debt could be life or death). 

So on the evening of the third day, Kris made his move. Anthony went out shopping along with their housekeeper, like he always did, while Kris, unbeknownst to them, headed for downtown.

 

The Legitimate Businessman’s Social Club was downtown on a not-too-busy side street, down a dark flight of stairs on the side of a brick building. At least, it appeared dark, since it was already dusk outside, and there were no lamps or streetlights close. Still, Kris knew this place was somehow dark even in daylight.

He tiptoed slowly down the stairs, fighting his eerie sentiments about the place. Forcing himself to think of Anthony and how they were getting screwed out of a ridiculous amount of money at the worst possible time, he went down to the door and knocked quietly.

A goon answered. “Well, if it isn’t the prettyboy himself!”

“Legs, right?” Kris asked hesitantly.

“Ah!” A voice said from inside. “Bring him in!”

Louie took Kris by the arm and brought him into a posh little club complete with pool tables, TVs, and a bar. A few other goons sat with Fat Tony as their boss stood.  
“Mr. Bryant,” he said as welcomingly as he could. “Nice to see you on this fine evening.”

“F-Fat Tony,” Kris started, nervous as could be, “I need to have a word with you. It’s about my fiancée’s debt.” Only the thought of Anthony could have spurred him to do something like this.

Fat Tony smiled. “I’m happy to hear that,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to have the money, would you?”

“’Fraid not,” he said simply. “What I wanted to ask you is, why now? You know we’re getting married soon. It’s going to be expensive. I know Anthony is going to pay you back - just not now.” He shook his head. “Isn’t there anything else I can do?”

Fat Tony glanced at his gleaming gold watch. “I’m afraid he only has a couple more hours, son. A deal is a deal.” He glanced furtively at the others at the table.

Kris shook his head, digging around for another argument, as Legs got up from his chair. “You’ve known him for years, probably longer than I’ve known him. Can’t you cut him a little slack?”

Fat Tony smiled. “If he thinks he can play around with me just because I’ve known him a long time, I’m afraid he’s wrong.” He made a gesture, and suddenly, before Kris knew what was going on, Legs and Louie had each taken him by the arms.

“Wh-F-Fat Tony!”

“I’m sorry, Kris, but you know, you’re not supposed to see your fiancée before the wedding!”

“No, wait!” Kris yelled as Legs and Louie dragged him toward a door. The other men at Fat Tony’s table had drawn their guns and had pointed them in his general direction from where they sat. Taking him down a flight of stairs, Kris soon found it was useless to struggle. These guys were used to this line of work.

In the basement were a bunch of boxes of liquor, tobacco, and a bunch of other goods that were cleverly disguised. Against a wall was a big cage, seemingly for transporting a large zoo animal. After fishing through Kris’ pocket (with some difficulty) and finally retrieving his cell phone, Legs pulled its door open and Louie thrust Kris inside. 

Locking it with a padlock as Kris gathered himself, Legs remarked with a draw of his gun, a snicker and a sarcastic smile, “Don’t worry. I’m sure Anthony’ll be here real soon.”

Louie made a face as he stared down at Kris, who didn’t have room to stand. “Yeah…shame.” He made an air-kiss toward Kris as they left the room, going back upstairs. 

Kris sat on the cool, metal floor of the cage in the mob’s dark basement, silently. He looked at the padlock. There was no getting past that. He was deep underground, almost in a bunker. No one would hear him down there. They took his phone so he couldn’t call anyone. 

How long would it take Anthony? 

 

Kris was curled up in the back of the cage with his head on one arm a couple of hours later, dozing off, when Legs and Louie came back to the basement. This time, they were dragging someone else with them. 

“I swear, he was going to get caught anyway!” The third man was going on desperately. Kris raised his head. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Legs mumbled. “Tell it to your new cellmate.”

Louie snickered. “Don’t have too much fun with him,” he said as he opened the door and they tossed the man inside with Kris. The light was dim, but Kris could tell the man was wearing a red polo shirt with the State Farm logo on it. 

“Guys, come on,” the man pleaded, grabbing at the bars and trying to shake the cage back open. “Can’t you see? It’s a common sense policy! You’re not going to get away with this!” Legs and Louie were already headed back upstairs. “Neither is Fat Tony!” They slammed the door shut, leaving him and Kris alone.

The man sighed and sat down, facing Kris. Kris just stared back at him, not really knowing what to think. Who knows how many people had been kept here, and for how long.

“Hi,” the man in the red polo said.

“Hey,” Kris answered quietly.

He sighed again. “I’m Matt,” the man said. “Fat Tony wanted me to basically rip somebody off so he could get the payout, and I’m supposed to keep quiet?” Matt was visibly upset. “They’re a really good family, a great family. Not the D’Amicos…the Hoopers.”

“The Hoopers?”

“Yeah. I’ve served them for…gosh, probably fourteen or fifteen years.” He leaned back against the bars. “We go way back.”

“That’s nice, I guess,” Kris said. “I’m just waiting for my fiancée to come pick me up.”

“Hey…” Matt said, studying Kris. “You look kinda familiar.”

“I’m Kris Bryant,” Kris introduced himself.

“Oh my, you are!” Matt said excitedly. “You were terrific this year!”

“Thanks! This has been a good year for me. I got engaged not too long ago.”

“Congratulations!”

“Unfortunately Anthony has connections with the mob…that I didn’t know about.” Kris sighed. “He owes them twenty million, and that money is kind of put aside for our wedding.”

“That’s a real pickle.”

“I know,” Kris agreed. “And Fat Tony won’t back down all of a sudden. If only it wasn’t so much money.”

“Have you already set the date and booked everything?”

“Yes.” 

“Maybe Fat Tony will settle for part of it now, part later?”

Kris looked at the floor. “I didn’t try asking him that,” he said. “But something tells me he probably won’t go for it.” 

“You may be able to get that debt postponed until after the wedding,” Matt replied, thinking. “There are laws about that kind of thing. Did you sign a contract?”

“No.”

“Hmmm.” Matt said. “Gimme some time to think about it. I might have a solution for you.”

“Well, thanks anyway.” Kris was settling to lie back down.

Matt yawned. “No problem. It’s my job.” 

 

It was probably about three or four hours later when the door was opened and someone was coming down the stairs to the basement. When Kris sat up and rubbed his eyes he was relieved to see that it wasn’t mobsters: it was an older, very tall man, a teen boy, and a toddler. When Matt was able to make them out in the dimness, he immediately brightened. “Guys!” He said happily.

“Matt!” The teen said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“They got me,” he replied quickly. “Fat Tony, he wanted me to totally rip you guys. It would have ruined you. I couldn’t do it.”

“We’ve got to get you out of there,” the older man said, getting down on his knees and looking at the padlock. 

“Guys,” Matt said suddenly. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Nonsense,” The older man said. “I had a feeling something bad was going on.”

“Have you seen Fat Tony?”

“He and the goons are gone for the night,” the teen put in. “I can’t believe they put you in a friggin’…animal cage!”

“Well, mob gonna mob,” Matt said with a sigh. “Oh, hey, Kris, these are the Hoopers I told you about. Guys, this is Kris – he’s with the Chicago Cubs.”

They introduced themselves quickly – Kevin, or Grandpa Hooper, a former basketball player, Kevin Jr., his teen grandson, and two-year-old baby Damian. Kris noted that Kevin Jr. was white, while the other two were black. 

Grandpa Hooper fiddled with the padlock on the cage, but came up shaking his head. “There’s got to be another way.”

The two kids walked around the cage, studying it. “What about the floor?” Kevin Jr. suggested. 

“What about it?” Kris asked.

“Maybe if we turn the cage on its side we can detach some of the bars.” They all looked closer. “They look like they might be screwed in.”

“Worth a try,” Matt said. He looked to Kris. “We’re gonna have to work together.” 

“Okay,” Kris said, bracing himself against one side of the cage. Matt joined him. “You guys support it when it falls over,” he told the others outside.

“Got it,” The Hoopers said, going to the side and bracing it.

“One, two, three!” Matt said, and they both lurched against it. It was heavier than the Hoopers anticipated, though, and it fell to the floor with a loud clang. Luckily no one was hurt. 

The Hoopers scampered to the other side to inspect the upturned bottom of the cage. But a few seconds later, the door to the basement swung open and someone started quickly down the stairs. Everyone held their breath as they turned to look. 

It was the mobster Louie – holding a cocked gun straight out at them. 

“Well, well, well, good early morning!” He said with satisfaction. “What do we have here?”

“You can’t hold us here,” Matt said defiantly.

“Can’t I?” He asked. “Who’s holding the gun, Mr. Goody Two-Shoes?” He motioned toward the Hoopers with it as they each raised their hands. Going to the door of the cage, he opened the padlock and the door. Keeping the gun on them all, he motioned at the Hoopers, indicating for them to get inside. They had no choice. Matt and Kris were devastated, and the two kids were very afraid, but they tried their hardest to hide it. “I can’t believe I didn’t hear you goons come in.”

“The only goon here is you!” Matt said defiantly.

Louie smiled down at him, darkly, keeping the gun trained on him. Then he spat in his face.

Kris gasped as Grandpa Kevin hurried to wipe Matt’s face off. Matt grabbed his hand, squeezing it. 

Louie ran a hand through his thick, black hair. “Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said, going back to the stairs. “I have a more… _comfortable _arrangement upstairs. Since I’m feeling so generous I think I will postpone calling Fat Tony until morning.” Smiling, he never took the gun off the now-crowded cage until he had left the room.__

With the Hoopers inside, there was pretty much no room left to move around. Matt and Grandpa Kevin stayed close together while Kris sat with Kevin and Baby Damian, who were in shock. 

“M-M-Matt,” Kevin Jr. stammered. 

“It’s okay, guys,” Matt tried to reassure them. He looked at Kevin Jr. “It’s gonna be okay, son.”

“Son?” He asked innocently.

Matt did a double take. “Oh,” he smiled. All eyes were on him. “Well,” he said with a chuckle, “I’d been meaning to tell you – since you’re older now, and everything…”

“Tell me what?”

“That…I…” Matt scratched his head, searching for the right words. His heart felt like it was going a thousand miles per hour, and not just because Louie had just threatened his life. “I’m…technically…your father.”

Everyone’s jaw dropped. 

“I was going to tell you…your mother thought it was my place to. It’s…well, I’ve always thought of you as my son…I don’t want to take any chances, so you might as well know it now.”

Kevin Jr. was speechless, understandably. “I guess you’re right,” he finally said slowly. “I never actually asked them why they were black and I was white.” He paused. “This doesn’t really change anything, does it?”

“Not if you don’t want it to,” Matt said. “They’re legally your parents.”

Grandpa Kevin looked to him. “But you are a part of this family,” he added. 

Matt paused, looking back up at Kevin. Something caught between them and they couldn’t look away. “Yeah,” Matt whispered. The tender looks on their faces made Kris’ heart skip a beat as he watched. 

Another moment of silence passed before Matt shook his head and asked, “How did you guys know I would be here?”

The two kids looked to Grandpa Kevin, and he looked back at them. “I knew,” he said quietly. “I just knew. And I knew my son wouldn’t want us to come around here, so I snuck out.”

“And we caught him,” Kevin Jr. added, holding Damian close.

“Wow,” Matt said. “I can’t believe it.”

“Can’t you?” Grandpa Kevin asked, nudging Matt closer. 

Matt smiled up at him – almost blushing. “Okay,” he said with a puff of air. A happy note had crept into his voice. “Maybe. But thank you – anyway.” 

The bars of the cage against the floor of the basement started becoming uncomfortable, as the kids started shifting, tossing, and turning. None of them could sleep now. They leaned on each other, against the bars of the cage, against the floor of the cage, to no avail. 

They were at the end of the world – and since they had each other, it was like they owned all of it.

 

Finally the long, eventful night gave way to a beautiful, yellowish-red dawn that none of Fat Tony’s prisoners could see. They curled up together, on top of one another, finally having dozed off, when someone burst down into the basement.

_“Kris!” ___

Kris bolted awake. Jumping up, he spotted his fiancée coming toward him, followed closely by Legs and Louie. “Anthony,” he said, exhausted.

Anthony reached for his hand but Legs and Louie restrained him. By now everyone else was awake. 

“Hey,” Kris said groggily. “What’s going on?”

“A deal’s a deal,” Legs snarled at Anthony. “The money for the man.”

“You can’t do this,” Anthony said angrily, struggling. “Let me at my pocket.”

Louie watched him very closely as Anthony retrieved his wallet. “That’s it,” he said quietly, “hand it over.”

A frown laced Anthony’s features as the money was delivered to the mobsters. “There,” Legs said. “Was that so hard?”

Anthony gave him the silent treatment. He looked back to the cage.

“Er…right,” Louie said regretfully. He went to the cage and opened the door.

But Kris didn’t move.

“Come on, prettyboy,” Louie said. “You’ve got enough room to crawl out.”

“Not unless they can come out too,” Kris said defiantly, motioning to Matt and the Hoopers.

Louie shook his head. “They are not part of this deal,” he said.

“You’ve got them here wrongly anyway.”

“Get out already!”

“No!”

At that moment someone else burst down the stairs to the basement – a whole cluster of people. Everyone turned their heads, expecting Fat Tony and more mobsters, but were pleasantly surprised to see policemen with guns raised!

All except Legs and Louie, of course.

They let go of Anthony and his wallet and raised their hands. Anthony smiled at them. “Told you something bad was going down,” he said.

“We’ll take it from here,” the chief replied, going to the cage and helping the prisoners out. 

Anthony retrieved his wallet and handed it to an officer. “This is the twenty million,” he said. 

The officer refused it. “Keep it,” he said. “It’s legally yours.”

Anthony sighed, a big sigh of relief, as Kris came toward him.

 

“I’m glad you were right about your fiancée coming to get you,” Matt said to Kris once they were all gathered at the police station. 

Grandpa Kevin stood beside him. “And I’m glad we found you in the first place,” he added.

Matt smiled. “I’m glad for that too.” They stood with an arm around each other. “And thanks for sticking up for us, Kris.”

“I couldn’t help it,” he smiled. “You guys are great.”

“That’s enough for me,” Anthony said. “You know you guys are all invited to the wedding, right?”

Kevin and Matt smiled. “We wouldn’t miss it for anything!” Matt said. 

A cop came and told Kris and Anthony they could go home. “We’ll see you guys real soon,” Anthony said as they left. 

“See you!” The Hoopers waved. Once they left, Kevin and Matt were alone in the questioning room, waiting for the interviewer.

Matt looked to Kevin. “I’m sorry I got into this pickle in the first place.”

“Nonsense,” Kevin replied. “None of it was your fault.”

“I mean, it was so dangerous back there last night, someone could have gotten killed.”

“Don’t worry about it anymore,” Kevin said, putting a hand on Matt’s back. “You were incredibly tough back there. You should be proud.” He lowered his voice. “I’m proud of you.”

Matt looked back up at him. That same thing, that same spark, as last night had got them stuck in each other’s gaze again. Matt’s eyes were lidded as Kevin slowly leaned closer. He grabbed him by the shoulder as they kissed for the first time – something Kevin felt probably should have happened long ago – and to Matt, something that he couldn’t believe he was missing all those years. 

 

Months and months later, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo swung around each other to blaring music, dressed in the most amazing suits, surrounded by all the people they cared about. The rings gleamed on their fingers as they held each other close. 

“Is it everything you dreamed?” Anthony whispered in Kris’ ear.

Kris nodded discreetly. “Yep.”


End file.
